If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Originally posted here by [the]Punisher i can't remember where i heard it, but for some reason, i heard that the government is going to create an agency to police the file sharing scene, finding out who's downloading what, and then making an arrest.

i have a partial view of North America laws, but i cant see how this can be done, since it requires a break of privacy with NO EVIDENCE of a crime being commited. So They will be allowed to monitor what they want without a Court order? That will be funny to see.

Nihil it is about copywrite, because the Canadian government in their defence for Enforcement says, File sharing copywrited material NOT a violation of copywrite

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to the USA and the RIAA's activities. File sharing is a violation of copyright in the USA as far as I know, so the issue is the RIAA trying to get someone else to pay for the enforcement.

Originally posted here by [the]Punisher

i can't remember where i heard it, but for some reason, i heard that the government is going to create an agency to police the file sharing scene, finding out who's downloading what, and then making an arrest

Well, that implies that the activity would have to be criminalised first? At the moment it is a civil matter.

Over here there hasn't been much controversy about file sharing, but piracy and counterfeiting is the main issue. A local guy just got 24 months for it.

Enforcement is by the Trading Standards Office, the Customs and Excise and the Police. It is a criminal offence.

I guess that if anything is done about it, it will be against UPLOADING files for sharing, not downloading. Much easier to police, I would have thought, unless people store their files offshore.

I cannot speak authoritatively for the USA, but if it were criminal, then the RIAA would not have to sue people in a civil court for civil damages?

They would just set the cops and the FEDs on them.

Counterfeiting and piracy are certainly criminal offences over here, and probably with you as well. They come under theft, fraud and deception. Over here we have a general sales ("value added") tax which is why our Customs & Excise people get involved, as it is tax evasion as well.

On top of that they could potentially be charged with Social Security benefits fraud , and the Inland Revenue might want to have a word about evading income tax (hey your IRS put Capone in Joliet......the FEDs never managed that ) the proceeds of crime ARE taxable , as are the wages of sin ( although not legal, prostitutes are actually taxable over here........they usually describe themselves as "models")

i'm broke anyways so if they want to sue me they can, they won't get much.

Please be careful, they would almost certainly go after your computer?

just an idea!

Ever heard of Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)!? as a thumb rule any book published/copyrighted before 1923 is in the public domain (more info about copyright time period at http://promo.net/pg/vol/pd.html), so many such books are available there to download.... same applies to music and lyrics also (http://www.pdinfo.com check out the songs list, they don't offer them for free though) ....

now can't we make this time period to be reduced to one year or so for music!?.....logic is that most of the CD sales would be done in first few months of its release and after that nobody bothers..... except the tv/music channels and they too will buy out the right immediately after the release .....

if they go after my computer i'll hide it, they can't find it if i do that, and if they watch my house. i'll bug proof it! i'll box all of my phone lines, arm myself with the Anarchist's Cookbook, and be like mel gibson in "conspiracy theory."
yeah right, i just d/l anyways and they're in the uploader phase of their battle. so thus far i'm still good. besides i use the cool firewall thingy that can block some gov't and riaa ip's. hopefully, i'm safe, but if they want me, they can come and get me. file sharing is the least of my worries. if they only knew what i've REALLY been up to lately, then they'd be a little angry. well ttfn

-=[t]P=-

\"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.\" - V

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the levy imposed on blank CD's in Canada. The levy was introduced as an amendment to the copyright laws in Canada, legalizing the copying of music for personal use.

The idea was supposed to be that the monies collected by the levy would go to the people and companies in the music industry as compensation for illegal copying. Of course, the law was considered by most to be very heavy handed as it did not target only the people who copied music, but instead anyone who simply bought blank CD's. Not surprisingly, it was the music industry who lobbied heavily for the law and ultimately recommended/decided what that compensation would be.

When the decision came down that this addition to the copyright law protected online music sharing, many people in Canada who had been paying the levy for years without copying music thought it was a just reward for the corrupt and greedy corporate engine that is the music industry.

It's not so much that the laws are behind the times in Canada, it's more that the music industry lobbied for a bad law and got what they asked for -- but not what they wanted.

Chris Shepherd
The Nelson-Shepherd cutoff: The point at which you realise someone is an idiot while trying to help them.
\"Well as far as the spelling, I speak fluently both your native languages. Do you even can try spell mine ?\" -- Failed Insult
Is your whole family retarded, or did they just catch it from you?